Experience Energy is proud to partner with the Society of Petroleum Engineers – Gulf Coast Section. We are striving to provide a platform for experienced upstream professionals and oil and gas companies to meet in person and create value for both sides.

The SPE is partnering with other professional organizations to make this event inclusive and representative of the upstream segment. Thus, we expect candidates from all upstream disciplines to participate.

Employers will have early access to the job seekers’ CVs, access to a brief job seeker’s questionnaire, have a booth at the event and have the opportunity to meet with experienced candidates. See details on the event website here.

The moment Colleen Scholl dropped out of college was the moment her career began.

She was living in Pennsylvania and decided to press pause on her education. She needed a job, and her dad knew someone who offered to help — the security guard at a local power plant in Pennsylvania.
She had the technical skills necessary for the job — she spent her childhood working on cars with her dad — and she passed the requisite tests.

“And the next thing I knew, I was an operator at a coal-burning power plant,” says Colleen, now the senior vice president and director of professional engineering services with HDR, an architecture and engineering firm headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

She was the plant’s first female employee, and throughout her career, she’s grown accustomed to being one of very few women in the industry. As a result, she’s become deeply committed to supporting mentorship among women in energy — first on the board of the Society of Women Engineers and now on the board of Lean In Energy, the nonprofit Pink Petro created in partnership with Sheryl Sandberg’s global Lean In organization to provide mentorship opportunities to women across the industry.

“This is an industry that has given me so much, and I’ve been lucky to have great male mentors. But I want women to have the choice of female mentors, too,” she says. “These are tough cookies. These are strong women, and they need those role models to look up to. You have to see her to be her.”

Colleen spent four years working for the plant. In that time, she also finished her engineering degree. That allowed her to move into an engineering position, designing power plants and building combined-cycle, gas-powered power plants with what is now Worley Parsons.
The job put her out in the field, solving problems on site. After a few years, she earned a site assignment as resident engineer building two coal-burning power plants in South Carolina.

“It was the most incredible experience of my life,” she recalls. “It taught me a lot about being an engineer, but it also taught me a lot about being a person.”

It also taught her to stand up — not to the men who comprised the majority of her colleagues, but to the handful of female pipe fitters and welders who had a habit of ridiculing her day after day.

“It was really cold one day, and I didn’t have my jacket with me. I found this pink hoodie. This was really vibrant pink. So I was walking around, and these women said, ‘Oh honey, this is a construction site. We don’t wear pink on a construction site.’ And I said, ‘Sweetie, I’m management. I can wear whatever I want.’ And that was the day I learned to speak up,” Colleen recalls.

The guys on her crew cheered for her — and started buying her pink everything to show their support.
“Now pink is kind of my signature color,” she says.
Once that project wrapped, Colleen went to work for Bechtel Power in Frederick, Md., managing the firm’s water treatment engineering group.

“I got to see the power industry around the world. I built projects in Russia and South America and India,” she recalls. “It was challenging but I learned a lot from it.”
More than five years ago now, Colleen left Bechtel and joined HDR, starting in the firm’s power sector and eventually landing a promotion to manage all the private sector technical resources and a team of 1,200.

“The power industry is in a time of dramatic change. We’re shutting down all of the coal-fired power plants. We stopped building nuclear power plants. We’re in the middle of a renewables renaissance. Honestly, I think it’s a lot of the women helping push that change forward,” she adds. “Women want to do good. Inherently in our brains when we choose careers, we want to do something that we can be proud of, that can improve the world in some way.”

The key is for leaders to stop talking about the problem and start focusing on the solution: making diversity not just a “priority,” but a value.

It’s time to make equal opportunity a part of the culture of how big oil operates.

We’ve seen that this can work. When the industry put a new focus on safety and made that a part of our culture, real change followed. It’s time for us to make that same commitment to diversity of all kinds, including gender equity.

Across the energy sector, leaders can and must do a better job of appealing to and engaging with women. Currently, the industry does not communicate well enough about possibilities for women to have flourishing careers. It doesn’t do enough reach out to universities to build a pipeline of talent, attracting women in STEM. And there aren’t adequate resources inside many companies to help ensure women receive equal opportunities to work their way up the ranks.

Oil companies must also do more to highlight the stories of women at all levels. Rather than just honoring certain women executives at ceremonies with rubber chicken dinners, organizations should provide women with more open forums to be heard. (On this front, see Bloomberg’s coverage of HERWorld here.)

At company and industry events, as well as in media, we should all be learning about the obstacles women face in the industry and how those obstacles can be removed.

This will help empower women and girls to forge paths in this sector. When my daughter sees representations of the people in the energy sector, she should see people like her.

And it will help empower everyone who cares about this issue to work together.

This is why we hold the GRIT Awards — to share the powerful stories of women. It’s why we’ve launched Experience Energy to help women build careers and advance in the industry.

What do you think we need to do to make gender parity happen now — and not leave it to future generations?

We’re hearing it everywhere these days: Energy may have suffered in recent years, but now, energy is back. It can’t though — because the world we live in now demands a deeper commitment to inclusion and culture.

That’s why we’re seeing a surge in activity here at Experience Energy, a destination for companies looking for diverse talent, and individuals looking for inclusive companies.

I joined the Pink Petro team to help manage the influx of great opportunities and great people. I’ve worked in energy recruiting for more than a decade. I know the industry’s past. I also know the future is taking shape.

It’s an exciting time for energy, but it’s also a time of profound change. The good news? You don’t have to navigate it alone. We’re here to share our insights, experience and information to help companies navigate a new normal in the world of recruitment, and to help individuals position themselves for the best jobs on the market.

Even more good news? You won’t just hear from me. You can hear from our coaches and gain an in-depth conversation with experts in talent and career development. In the past we have heard from all sorts of experts like Tamara Anderson, manager of talent acquisition at Cheniere Energy, who talked through strategies to build your career and to stand out from the competition.

Why does content like this matter in today’s world? Because the new T’s & C’s in energy are talent and culture. The workforce of tomorrow is multigenerational. Diversity is a business imperative. And industry giants are now competing for talent with fast-moving, tech-forward startups.

A big name is no longer enough to attract the people your business wants and needs. You’ve got to show them you’re committed to your people.

Part of that commitment is investing in the hiring process.

We know energy companies get it because it was energy companies that asked us to create Experience Energy — a place that would help them build strong, nimble, inclusive teams, and not just in oil and gas. They wanted a careers platform that served the entire energy value chain. They asked, and we delivered.

Now, the next step is on you.

Are you interested in a new career opportunity with forward-thinking, exciting energy companies? Fill out a profile on Experience Energy. We can connect you with amazing companies who put people first.

Whatever your needs, we are here to help. I’ll be offering career tips regularly to share what I’ve learned over the course of my career in the industry — starting today. One of the best things you can do for your career is increase your visibility. Nominate yourself for an award. Apply for a speaking opportunity. Go for a promotion. Raise your hand in a meeting. Don’t know where to begin? Nominate yourself or someone you know for the Experience Energy GRIT Awards.

The industry is rallying, for sure, but it’s not going back. We are moving forward, and Experience Energy can help.

Meet Addy Ortega. For Addy, being a leader means to go beyond just being a boss. Hear about how she leads a team of 90 engineers in Halliburton’s San Antonio, Texas, lab and tips on how you can become a leader, too.

For more on how you can join the team at Halliburton, explore open opportunities at Experience Energy!

From the classroom to the field, conference room to the board room, we received nearly 200 nominations across the globe. This year we will be proud to honor energy professionals, entrepreneurs, executives, and of course, our male champions. Diversity is bigger than the Energy Capital. It goes beyond gender and extends to different parts of our industry and includes a wide range roles, backgrounds, and people.

Nominations were submitted from North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Asia, Russia and the Middle East.

I’m so proud to call this industry mine. Our big thanks to those who put forward these deserving finalists.

I’ve been an extrovert since my first breath of life.

But I have a secret for my introvert friends: even extroverts get nervous.

So here I stand (somewhat tired) 10 days from HERWorld17, a vision that manifested as a way to connect women during the downturn to learn online and in person, and that has now turned into a mini-movement. Ok, it’s not a mini movement. It’s massive and it’s about to happen in 22 cities across the globe.

Yes. I’m nervous.

Why you ask? Well what could go wrong? Anything and everything. And like just before any big moment… a birth, a marriage…death…a possible layoff…it is human nature to feel a sense of unease about the unknown. But isn’t this the world we live in and a state of mind so prevalent in every day society?

Two years ago I was on the heels of launching Pink Petro unsure of what I was about to do. I took all the money I had in my savings and with two startup clients, Shell and Halliburton took our proof of concept to market (in the worst economic downturn in decades). People thought I was crazy. And I was crazy passionate about fixing a problem we’re all tired of reading and hearing about: the gender gap.

I didn’t sleep the night before the big day. I was too busy thinking about what could go wrong instead of realizing how amazing it was I was there. I also recall that I spent way too long worrying about if a $400 plane ticket to Boston was going to break the bank. Seriously, after years of managing millions of dollars, I was worried about pennies.

What I learned is what breaks the bank is when you don’t take action.

Not taking action means you aren’t moving forward. It’s that moment you feel paralyzed and unable to make pretty simple decisions. For the runner in me, it’s like mile 22 in the marathon when your mind goes blank and your body is lifeless.

So I put my big girl pants (and hair on) and I took the stage. And in that moment when I wanted to run from the lights (because I was sweating, a ton), I just owned it. I took a deep breath and I let the words come natural.

Thinking big and acting bigger is all about action and attitude: being fearless and bold – willing to put oneself out there, steamrolling obstacles, ignoring perceived boundaries, and even being a little irrational and somewhat pigheaded at times. Jeff says it’s about being relentless in all you can do but especially in trusting in who YOU are because YOU can.

So maybe you have an idea, a dream or a big moment coming up in your work or life? Instead of thinking about it or dreaming, get out there and try! Success is trying over and over again and getting up to rise to the next challenge. It’s that butterfly in your stomach just before the big moment. It’s the embarrassment of something going wrong and handling it with grace. It’s that not getting your way the first or second or even third time, but going for the win on the fourth try.

We simply must do all three: Think Big, Dream Big, and Act Big.

Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz spent a lot of time trying to find her way home thinking she needed others and special things (like her ruby slippers) to find her way back to Kansas. Here’s the thing. Dorothy didn’t need anything but to take a deep breath, trust in her own gifts and self worth, and make it happen.

So when the nerves crawl out, be yourself. Sweat a little. Be okay with being you.

It’s the only thing we own today so you might as well start leveraging it.

I cannot wait for you to meet my friend (and the pink cowboy), Jeffrey Hayzlett at HERWorld. He’s truly been an inspiration and been a sponsor to me as I’ve navigated new waters. He’ll be in Houston at our MainStage event talking about change, business reinvention, and all of his lessons learned interviewing C-suites and working as the turnaround CMO at Eastman Kodak.